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Kindred: The Embraced: Live Hard, Die Young, and Leave a Good Looking Corpse
"Live Hard, Die Young, and Leave a Good Looking Corpse" is the fifth episode of the FOX Network television series Kindred: The Embraced. Directed by James L. Conway, it first aired on Wednesday, April 17th, 1996. In this episode, one of Lillie Langtry's childer, a rock star named Zane becomes the star attraction at The Haven. Zane's wild attitude and antics threaten the Masquerade however when he begins indiscriminantly embracing his groupies. Julian Luna wants Lillie to handle the situation, but he has his own problems trying to tame his newly-embraced Brujah niece Sasha. Synopsis At the Haven, Lillie Langtry and Julian Luna watch the club's newest rock and roll sensation, Zane. Zane captivates the entire crowd and a throng of female groupies stare wide-eyed at him from the floor before the stage. Lillie tells Julian that Zane is one of her Toreador vampires. She found him a year ago, living on the streets, addicted to drugs. Since then, she has molded him into a rock star. Julian as ever, is concerned about the musician's flare and how it may affect the Masquerade. Julian goes downstairs where he finds Sasha entering the Haven accompanied by several Brujah. Julian still feels guilty that she is part of this rival clan and wants her to come home with him. What Julian doesn't yet realize is that Sasha has just returned from robbing a gas station with her new clan mates. Zane finishes his set and takes note of Sasha (as well as several other young women). The two exchange a few words and an instant attraction develops between the two. Cash is present and though he is friends with Zane, he doesn't appreciate how he is looking at Sasha. When Sasha goes to speak with Julian, Cash warns the rocker that she is "off limits". Julian finishes his awkward conversation with his niece and introduces himself to Zane. He warns Zane to play by the rules so long as he is living within his city. Zane goes outside and one of his groupies, a girl named Grace Dugan, follows him. She climbs onto the back of his motorcycle and the two ride off. He brings her out into the woods to have a good time. Zane embraces her and Grace has no idea what is happening. She feels ill and is scared. Zane tells her that she is alive now, then abandons her to her own devices. Grace stumbles about as her body goes through a series of traumatic changes. She wanders out onto a highway where she is struck by an oncoming van. Meanwhile, Zane wanders across a covered bridge near the train tracks when he comes upon Cash. He is highly inebriated and alludes to the notion that he may have turned someone into a Kindred. Cash warns him against doing anything that might threaten the Masquerade. Meanwhile, Grace awakens inside of a hospital. As she is technically dead, she has no vitals and is pronounced D.O.A. Shortly after the physician records the time of death, Grace rises from the hospital bed and begins wandering the halls. She is terrified and doesn't understand why she cannot feel her heartbeat. When the doctors discover that she is missing, they call the police. Frank Kohanek and Sonny Toussaint answer the call. Reporter Caitlin Byrne also receives word of the strange incident and goes to the hospital. At Julian's mansion, Julian goes to Sasha's room and finds the place a mess. There is evidence that she is getting ready to leave home. Sasha comes in and Julian asks her to stay. He feels terrible that she is now a Brujah and wants to set things right. Cash interrupts them and tells Julian that he just received a call from Sonny. Julian learns about Grace and realizes that she has been embraced against her will. Back at the hospital, Grace continues to suffer from a panic attack. She goes to the pharmacy in the hopes of finding something that will make her feel better. The pharmacist thinks that she is just a junkie and refuses to help. A security guard tries to get her to calm down, but Grace grabs the man's gun and fires a shot that shatters the glass on the pharmacy window. Caitlin and Frank hear the commotion and rush to the scene. Frank manages to calm her down and gets her to surrender the gun. Grace turns and leaps through a hospital window. She lands on the roof of a car then takes off. Later, Sasha goes out and meets up with Zane. Zane takes her to a museum gallery. They find Julian has followed them and is keeping tabs on Sasha. He warns Zane once again about his wild behavior. Zane acts indignant and makes a spectacle of himself in front of the human patrons. His actions risk exposing the Masquerade and Julian silently bristles with anger. The following morning, Grace is wandering the streets of San Francisco. She sees an elderly man on a park bench and prepares to feed on him. Cash pulls up on his motorcycle and brings Grace back to Julian. Julian explains to Grace that she is now a Kindred and she must feed off blood to survive. He opens up her wrist and lets her drink from him. At the police precinct, Grace's father comes looking for her. Frank unfortunately has little to tell him. Caitlin arrives and wants Frank to give her a lead on the missing girl. Frank refuses to reveal what he suspects has happened, but he sarcastically recommends telling Julian about the incident to see if he is willing to print the story. Meanwhile, Sasha and her Brujah brethren don fright masks and burst into a Chinatown gambling house run by a powerful Tong. They hold the group at gunpoint and force them to surrender their money. The Tong overlord manages to snatch Sasha's mask from her head and gets a good look at her. She and the others quickly leave with the money. Frank Kohanek goes to The Haven where Zane is in the middle of performing. He finds Lillie and shows her a photograph of Grace, indicating that she was last seen here before she went missing. Lillie honestly has no recollection of ever seeing the girl. Julian enters the conversation and tells Frank that they need to work together on this one. Understanding that the Kindred are involved in Grace's condition, he agrees to work with Julian once again and leaves. After Frank leaves, Julian turns to Lillie and tells her that Zane is responsible for breaking Kindred law. Under normal circumstances he would have him killed immediately, but as Zane is one of Lillie's childer, he is willing to allow Zane to live, but he must leave the city immediately. Lillie approaches Zane in private after his set. She tells him the prince's edict and warns him about the path he's traveling down. She compares his rise and fall to that of other music legends such as Jim Morrison, Janice Joplin and Curt Kobain. She tells him that he needs to leave town... tonight. Julian then goes to the San Francisco Times and sees Caitlin. Hoping to deflect her investigation into Grace's disappearance, he encourages to look at the story in a broader spectrum, recommending doing a human interest piece on missing persons cases. Caitlin tells him that she intends on pursuing Grace's connection to the Haven. ]] Grace turns up at The Haven and finds Zane. She slaps him across the face, blaming him for turning her into a monster. The floor manager asks her to leave. Frank is still present and takes note of Zane. He now understands that Zane is the one responsible for Grace's condition. When Zane sees him, he darts out the back of the club. Frank chases after him, but as he runs into the back alley, Zane is gone. Zane meets up with Sasha underneath a gazebo. He gives her his earring as a gift and the two begin making out. After spending some time together, Zane feels its safe to return to the Haven. He sits in his dressing room when Lillie enters the room from behind him. She has a knife in her hand and is trembling over the prospect of executing her own progeny. Zane begins reciting lyrics to a song that he wrote just for Lillie and she puts the knife away. She makes him promise that he will leave the city and the two kiss. Frank returns to The Haven as well and tries to talk with some of Zane's groupies. He finds that another young girl has now been embraced by the rocker. Cash finds Sasha and brings her back to Julian. Julian knows about the Chinatown heists and tells her that he paid the Tongs back everything that she had stolen to keep them from trying to kill her. Sasha doesn't seem to care. She tells Julian to keep his "watchdog" (Cash) away from her and storms out of the room. At The Haven, Frank goes to see Lillie. He wants to know where Zane is, but Lillie protects him. She tries to get him to let the matter go, but he refuses. He doesn't care what kind of person Zane is, if he's broken the law, he's going to bring him down. Caitlin comes to The Haven just as Zane re-emerges. She manages to get an interview with him and Zane flirts with her. Frank spots him and chases him outside the back of the Haven once again. This time however, Zane is waiting to ambush him. As Frank runs outside, Zane leaps down from the wall of the club and beats him to the ground. Cash arrives and saves Frank's life. The two vampires begin fighting one another, but Zane gets the upper hand. Frank withdraws his phosphorous gun and holds it to Zane's head. The vampire has little choice now, but to back down. Knowing that he's a vampire, Frank cannot risk bringing him back to the precinct. Instead, he brings him to Julian Luna saying, "My law has no way to deal with his crimes... but yours does". Zane is taken to an underground "prison of light" and Julian calls a conclave of the Primogen council to discuss Zane's fate. Everyone but Lillie votes in favor of executing Zane. Julian charges Lillie with the task of being his executioner. Sasha learns that Zane has been captured and frees him from the dungeon. When the others learn that Zane is missing, they give chase. They track the two of them to the covered bridge on the train tracks. Zane and Sasha stand on the tracks with one another as a train bears down on them. Julian steps onto the tracks as well, willing to sacrifice his own life to show his love for Sasha. He says, "If this is your choice, then it is my choice too". At the last minute however, all three of them dive from the tracks and the train passes. Sasha runs to Julian's side. Lillie approaches Zane and he looks at her saying, "I knew it would be you". Using a razor-sharp fingernail, she slashes Zane across the throat and he bleeds to death on the tracks. Cast Principal Cast Guest Stars Notes & Trivia * This episode is available on the Kindred: The Embraced - The Complete Series DVD collection released on August 21st, 2001. * Production code number: 3795-005. * Director James L. Conway also directed the seventh episode "Bad Moon Rising". * Patrick Bauchau is listed in the opening credits, but does not make an appearance in this episode. * Sonny Toussaint, Eddie Fiori and Daedalus only make cameo appearances in this episode. * Sasha Luna was embraced by the Brujah clan in "Romeo and Juliet". * The floor manager appeared last in "The Nightstalker". Quotes See also External Links References ---- Category:1996/Episodes Category:Episodes with plot summaries